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Early Coinbase employee is a raising a VC fund

llustration: Rebecca Zisser / Axios

Polychain Capital, a cryptocurrency hedge fund founded by early Coinbase employee Olaf Carlson-Wee, is raising a traditional venture capital fund, per an SEC filing.

Why it matters: Fundraising via digital tokens—known as "initial coin offerings"—has been hailed as the new way for startups to get funding, but Polychain's VC fund suggests that there's still a place for traditional equity investing.

According to a source, Polychain's VC fund will be used to purchase equity in blockchain-related companies, as opposed to purchasing tokens (or promises of future tokens, via SAFT). All existing Polychain investors were offered a spot in this fund, said the source.